


Queen of Diamonds

by Pandora_sama



Category: Sailor Moon - All Media Types
Genre: Drama, F/M, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-12-05 06:50:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandora_sama/pseuds/Pandora_sama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mamoru meets the sinister and ruthless Prince Diamondo</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Queen of Diamonds

Queen Of Diamonds  
A memoir from Chiba Mamoru, as re-told to:

Pandora Diane MacMillan October 12, 1997

PREQUEL:

EXCERPT FROM SAILOR MOON MANGA, VOLUME 5 [translated by Alex Glover]:

Chibi Usa runs into the protective circle of Mamoru's arms. Minako asks her to tell them what is  
wrong, if the earring is scaring her. She asks if it has some secret.

Chibi Usa stares at the encased earring with tears in her eyes, stuttering that because of that stone  
her mama was. . . Minako questions her, asking what happened to her mom. Usagi asks if it had  
anything to do with the Black Moon, if she knows something. She demands that Chibi Usa tell her  
what is going on.

Chibi Usa cries out that she doesn't know and buries her head into Mamoru. He tells her that if it's  
too difficult they'll stop. Usagi is surprised and wonders what he is thinking of. She stares at both  
of them and says that she has to be sure that Chibi Usa is not an enemy. She tells Chibi Usa that  
she has to swear it. The little girl yells that she isn't an enemy, that it isn't true. Usagi looks, and  
then says that even if she isn't, if Chibi Usa won't cooperate, then she doesn't think she can work  
with her. Then Usagi turns and runs away.

Queen Of Diamonds

She ran away. Why did she run away?

Usako. When will you ever understand me?

What I feel for Chibi Usa...I can't explain it. Any more than I can explain my feelings for you. I  
can't remember looking at you...and not longing to touch you.

It's funny, but Chibi Usa reminds me somehow of you. She's very proud and stubborn like you  
are. But underneath it all, she's just a little girl, all alone. Her mother and father aren't there to  
look after her. And I feel, since she's come here, to us, that I'm responsible for her.

But it's more than that. I feel a special bond between us. I see how naturally Chibi Usa comes to  
me, she trusts me. And I can't let her down.

I wonder why you can't understand. That doesn't mean I care about you any less. Oh my Usako,  
how I miss you. Please don't be angry with me because of Chibi Usa.

Now, why does Usako feel so threatened by a little girl? These feelings don't spring from  
nowhere. I wonder, does this mean, I've neglected her, somehow. Yes, perhaps I've been  
neglectful.

Neglectful.

~~~~~~~

It is dark and still in my bedroom, in the wee hours of the morning. It seems, I've been tossing  
and turning for hours, before exhaustion finally took me. I thought of a million things to say to  
Usako. And everything I thought of to say to her, just didn't sound right. Maybe tomorrow I'll  
know...tomorrow.

"Tomorrow?" A voice answers me. "Tomorrow? There is no 'Tomorrow' for you...Endymion."

Endymion...a name from my past. Who calls me that? I look around, bleary-eyed, into the  
darkness. And there he is, up against my bedroom door. Lounging at his ease. Everything he  
wears is white, from his immaculately white shoes on up. He is tall and slim, and his jacket is  
elaborately embroidered, of a quality only seen...on royalty. Even his hair is so fair as to be white.  
Diamond-shaped earrings wink in the moonlight from my window.

He is leaning against my door, long legs crossed, casually twirling a brandy snifter. There is  
insolence in every line of his body, even in the way he said, "Endymion." As if we were long  
acquainted, he and I. The relationship is a very personal one, and definitely not friendly. He looks  
down at me lying in bed, out of half-closed eyes, and I feel myself stiffening, as if for a fight.

He smiles at me...the tiger baring his teeth.

"Let's put our cards on the table, Endymion."

And every time he says "Endymion," his voice dripping with sarcasm, it's all I can do to keep still.  
I want to grab him by the scruff of the neck, feelings I'm not used to feeling. But I need to know  
why he's here...I must control my anger.

There's a sound in the air, like the sound of shuffling of cards. And suddenly, there ARE cards on  
the table. And I am sitting at it. It is a game of solitaire, apparently, and I'm playing it. The man  
in white is watching me, smirking, his arms folded. Is this his idea of a card trick? Cripes. Now  
he's reading my mind, too.

"Oh, I know lots of card tricks, Endymion. You're pathetic, you know that, just pathetic. You've  
been playing Solitaire all your life, haven't you? Denied yourself all the other games you could  
have played. And why...because you were waiting...for her."

And at his words, I draw a card, and set it down on the table. It is the Queen of Hearts. My  
fingers rest on the card possessively, as if it were a thing alive. And at my touch, the face on the  
card changes.

First, it is my Princess, sad, yearning, in her shimmering white gown. Then, it is my Usako's face,  
looking at me as she did, just before she ran away, stabbing me to the heart with that accusation in  
her eyes...you don't love me. And every second, every minute, every hour, I see her face again.  
Well, Usako, far be it from me to argue with you, it's just not in my nature. If you think I don't  
love you, then I guess we will have to find a new word for this obsession, that I can't stop thinking  
about you.

Under my hand, the card is changing. It is still Usako's face, but somehow older. This would be  
Usako fully grown to womanhood, wearing a long white dress, that shows her figure to advantage,  
touched in places with a deep gold like the last fire of the setting sun, and she is wearing a  
matching deep gold tiara. Her fingers are interlaced, and her eyes are closed, as if in prayer. In  
prayer for what? Her eyes open, and she looks directly at me, this woman in the card. My Queen  
of Hearts. Her face changes again, a little younger...it is my Usako again, wearing this dress.

A tear goes down her cheek, glistening like a small pearl against the rosy blush of her complexion.

"Yes, she is a pearl," says the man in white. "She is a gem, this Serenity. But not yours for long.  
Oh, not for long. Look your last on your Queen. You see, I don't wait around like you,  
Endymion. What I want, I take. And Serenity, she is much too pretty a bauble for the likes of  
you. She needs a man who really appreciates her. Me."

I feel like I'm drawn into the card under my hand, so close I can almost touch Usako's cheek, a  
single tear glistening on it. Her eyes are filled with abject misery. "Mamo-chan!" I hear her  
whisper, "don't let him touch me!"

But there is a gust of wind, a swirling of dark forces in the room. And the card is wrenched from  
my grasp. And now the table has disappeared, and I am standing, and it is Chibi Usa I am holding  
in my arms, fast asleep.

"Good choice, Endymion, good choice. Protect the child, by all means, protect the child. Yes,  
protect the future. But forget the woman. Forget about the present. The woman comes with me.  
Of course...there's a fatal flaw in your reasoning, isn't there, Endymion? For without the present,  
there IS no future, is there?" He laughs, a vicious, hollow sound, and at his words, Chibi Usa  
dissolves in my arms into dust. I feel sick inside. What kind of monster is he?

"You see?" The man in white continues, as if this was a mere demonstration of his hypothesis, not  
a human being, a little girl, destroyed. "Now, watch me, Endymion. Observe, and learn the truth  
of your fate. In time, Serenity, your Queen, her heart, so warm and full for you, shall turn as hard  
and cold as stone. And then she'll turn to me. And once turned, she shall never desire another.  
Unlike you, I never neglect the women in my life. On that score, none of them complain about  
me. I never tire, though sometimes, they do. It will be quite a while until we know each other  
better, so let me introduce myself now. I am Prince Diamondo...Diamond. And they call me  
Diamond for good reason."

He is all but flaunting in my face what he intends to do with Usako. My rage builds to fever pitch,  
and in a moment, I have transformed to Tuxedo Kamen.

But Diamondo laughs at me derisively. "Parlour tricks, Endymion? How amusing. Is this what  
you wear in the 20th Century? But how interesting. Complete with top hat, too. Well, I can do  
magic tricks too, Endymion. Wouldn't you like to see one? Oh, you'll like this trick. You'll like it  
very much."

At his words, the card, the Queen of Hearts, reappears in his hand. Usako, so beautiful, in the  
white and gold dress...and just out of my reach. And in his hand, the picture changes again. She  
is now lying on a bed, seemingly in a trance. Diamondo sees where my eyes are fixed, and very  
deliberately lifts the card to his lips, and kisses it.

"My Queen, now. Mine. Want to see, Endymion? Of course you do. Of course you do. Now,  
for my next trick, I will need an object from a volunteer in the audience...YOU, Sir!" And he  
snatches the top hat from my head. "Now, what's a magician without a top hat? It just isn't done,  
is it? There, now. Look, nothing in the hat. Nothing up my sleeves," and he pulls up each sleeve,  
exposing slim white wrists, which yet show tensile strength in every sinew. "Oh, my, my, where  
did THIS come from?" The Queen of Hearts card, which had disappeared for a moment, re-  
appears in his hand.

"I'm afraid it's all over, Endymion. Your sweet little dream. All over. All torn to pieces. Like  
this card." And then he begins to tear the Queen of Hearts card, corner to corner.

"No!" I cry out, and try to rush him.

"Now, now, now, none of that! No interference from the audience! Watch yourself, Endymion!"  
Then he snatches one of his diamond-shaped earrings, and throws it at my feet. There is a violent  
explosion, and black swirling energy blasts me backwards. I smash hard into the back wall of my  
bedroom. My head bleeding, throbbing, I lie helplessly watching him through blurred vision, the  
room swirling dizzily.

"Ahhh, that's better. Now, to continue this trick..." and he rips the Queen of Hearts card to  
shreds, and tosses it into my top hat. "Oh, my, my, where has it gone now?" He tips up the hat,  
and there's nothing in it, not even tiny fragments of the card. My God, what has he done with  
her?

But I'm too dizzy to move. Like all the worst nightmares, I'm rooted to the spot. I can't even  
stand up. I have to lie sprawled here, bleeding and in pain, and watch his damned perverted magic  
trick.

"Now...may I have a drum roll, please?" And of course, I do hear a drum roll and a clash of  
cymbals, though there's no one in the room but us two. And then Diamondo reaches into the top  
hat, and brings out a card.

This card also has Usako's face on it, wearing the white and gold dress. But it is different. She is  
different. Her eyes are dark, cold, glittering, spiteful. And the card is no longer the Queen of  
Hearts. It is the Queen of...Diamonds.

Diamondo is chortling. "What's the matter, Endymion? Don't you like my little card trick? I'm  
so sorry. Well, perhaps it's time to end this evening's entertainment. Would you return his  
property to him, my dear?"

The woman in the card materializes at his side, the white and gold dress shimmering iridescently in  
the moonlight. "Anything my Prince desires," this woman replies, who is not...who cannot  
be...Serenity. She takes the hat from Diamondo's grasp, and throws it at me, contemptuously.  
She throws it so hard, it spins across the room like one of her tiara throws, and hits me hard in the  
stomach. She smiles when she sees me wince in pain.

Diamondo also smiles, and slides an arm around her in a slow, lingering caress.

"You really hate me, don't you, Endymion?" he remarks, as he pulls the woman tightly against his  
side. [I will not believe, I cannot believe that she is, or ever was, Serenity she was never my  
Usako!] "And that's a pity," he continues, "when we have so much in common. Both of us, with  
an eye for knowing a good thing when we see it." And he places his hand on her hip.

I cannot move. But I can answer him, and I do, though the sound of my own voice frightens me.  
"Don't you DARE compare yourself to me! I don't take what I want! Love isn't love unless it is  
given freely."

"Freedom, Endymion? Interesting choice of words, coming from you. Freedom is something you  
and your kind here on Earth have always enjoyed. We have no such word as freedom on  
Nemesis. We live here in darkness, in exile, never knowing the beauty, the freedom of Earth, never  
knowing your beautiful planet, Earth Prince. I'll give you another good word. Serenity. Do you  
know what it means? Yes, it is her name. But it also means peace, tranquillity, bliss. All the  
things you looked for, Endymion, in all your lonely years, playing Solitaire. All the things I longed  
for, when I lived in the darkness of Nemesis. I am not going back there, Endymion. I am never  
going back there. I will die here, first, before I go back to Nemesis, that place of emptiness. She  
will bring me all those things I long for...she will be MY Serenity."

"And I leave you with this thought, Endymion. I couldn't have taken her, except ...you gave her to  
me!"

This last gibe somehow has me on my feet, the adrenaline of utter fury pumping in my veins, and I  
get ready to hurl a steel-tipped rose. Then she looks at me. The woman who is so beautiful, but is  
no longer Serenity. And the cold contempt in her glance freezes my blood. She does not believe  
in me any more. She loathes me.

I cannot deny what is happening any more. My hand is shaking. The rose falls from my hand,  
and it fades, it melts away. She looks down at the rose, and then up at me, with the bitterest,  
bitterest smile. Then she turns on her heel, takes Diamondo's arm, and they disappear.

~~~~~~~

"Mamo-chan? Mamo-chan?" I hear someone calling me and my heart beats painfully. Has she  
come back to me? Was it all just a terrible nightmare?

Then it dawns on me. It is a child's voice. It has the same inflections as my Usako, she says my  
name in the same way, but it is in a high, childish treble. I open my eyes. There's only one person  
this could be. Chibi Usa.

There she is, standing next to the couch, wearing my shirt, so long on her it drags on the ground.  
Wide-eyed, a small child awakened from sleep, and frightened.

"I heard you calling, Mamo-chan, and you woke me up," Chibi Usa says. "You kept crying, 'No  
No No No!' You were screaming. Are you O.K.?"

I gather the little girl into my arms. "Yes. I'm fine. Now. Thank you for coming to check on me.  
I won't disturb you again, I promise." I hug her tight for a long moment. "Now go back to sleep.  
I'll be fine here on the couch. Come on, I'll go tuck you back in." And taking her by the hand, I  
lead her back to my bed, and tuck her in.

She looks up at me, puzzled. "Are you crying, Mamo-chan?" [I guess I must have been, if it's  
noticeable to her. But I mustn't let on she's been frightened enough tonight.] "If I was, you made  
me all better," I smile at her.

"Nightmares are nasty, aren't they?" Chibi Usa remarks. "My daddy gets them a lot." [And if  
they're like mine, your daddy has my sympathy, I think to myself.]

"Don't worry about it any more, Chibi Usa. If you don't sleep now, you'll be very tired in the  
morning. Too tired to eat the pancakes I'm gonna make you."

Her eyes are big as saucers. "You're gonna make me pancakes? Oh, thank you, Mamo-chan! I'll  
go to sleep right now!" She scrunches her eyes shut so tight there are little wrinkles on her eyelids.  
Wow that must hurt, I grin to myself. I better get out of here, so she REALLY goes to sleep.

~~~~~~~

I pull the blanket back over me on the couch, but now I am wide awake. I don't know what it was  
I just had...was it a nightmare, a premonition, what? And then my inner voice speaks to me. That,  
Mamoru, was a warning. Either you express your love to Usagi, right here, right now, or you may  
lose her.

O.K., O.K., I got that message, loud and clear. The question is...how? I'm too tired to think  
clearly now, anyway. But I will find a way. Count on it. I will find a way.

~~~~~~~


	2. Queen Of Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mamoru meets the sinister and ruthless Prince Diamondo

@))~~))~~~~August 3, 2001(Mamoru's birthday!)~~~~((~~((@

PREQUEL:

Usagi tossed restlessly in her sleep, tangling the blankets as she fretted over Mamoru's recent behaviour. Did he really love her? If he did, why did he spend so much time fussing over Chibi Usa? " I just don't understand him," she muttered to herself. "I don't understand him at all..."

@))~~~))~~~~

"Ah my poor little Princess," said a slightly mocking voice. "The once and future Queen. And this is how he treats you...tsk, tsk, tsk." A hand reached out, and slowly, slyly, the blankets slid down off Usagi. She suddenly felt the cold air on her skin, and wondered if this was a nightmare.

But then she felt a fleeting touch of lips on her neck. "Pretty, so pretty," continued the voice. "Even in pyjamas. But hardly worthy of a future queen, my dear. But..." and here she heard a low chuckle, "we can fix that."

Usagi felt her skin tingling. When she opened her eyes, startled, there was a whirling blackness in the room. Her skin continued to tingle, and she felt her pyjamas dissolving on her, just as her clothes tended to do when she transformed to Sailor Moon. Yet this was an entirely different feeling. There was a sudden sensation of warmth, and when she looked down at herself, she was arrayed in a shimmering off-the-shoulder white gauzy dress, down to her ankles, trimmed with deep gold, and festooned with pearls and tiny winking diamonds. She blinked, and the gown was still there.

"Impossible!" she heard herself cry, and without even knowing she had moved, found herself standing up beside her bed. Yet, no bare feet hit the cold floor. Her feet touched the ground with a little tap of heels. She tugged at the hem of the gown to see, and to her wonderment, she found she was wearing matching white satin pumps, also trimmed with pearls and diamonds.

"I'm dreaming!" she moaned, bewildered. "I *must* be dreaming!"

"A dream, that you are," answered the voice she had heard before. "MY dream, MY Queen." Usagi gasped as she felt hands on her bare shoulders. And there he was, looking at her. She could have sworn there had been no one in the room, a moment before. She had to crane her neck up to meet the eyes fixed on hers, so tall he was. Hair to his shoulders, so fair as to be white. A pale skin, and penetrating eyes that glittered and seemed to see not only her, but through her, to the thoughts inside, as well. All dressed in white he was, his tunic richly embroidered in brocade, his body slim, his posture one of someone used to command.

He was smiling at her, and the smile was knowing, mocking. No man had ever looked at her, and through her, like that before. Part of her wanted to run, yet another part of her was rivetted to the spot.

She seemed to hear little disembodied voices in her head. "Leave?" they said. "Why would you leave? Leave, and miss all the fun? More fun than YOU'VE ever had, little girl!"

That did it! A little girl? A little girl? Me, 14 years old, a little girl? How dare he suggest that! She felt her cheeks flush hot with the perceived insult, as her anger overwhelmed the uneasy feelings pervading her, that she was being manipulated.

He was still gazing at her with that mocking smile.

"I'm not afraid of you!" her voice ended on a squeak, spoiling the whole effect.

The smile broadened into a wolfish grin. "I'm so glad to hear that, my dear. How sensible you are. How sensible, and so, so mature! You have no idea how long I've waited, how far I've come, just so I could talk to you like this--alone, without that interfering Endymion horning in on our conversation. Oh, by the way, I do hope you like the gown I have chosen for you. It's just a little token of my affection, and esteem for you, my dear Queen Serenity."

The sky blue eyes widened then--the fear was back in her. "Endymion--Serenity? Why do you call us that?"

"But how thoughtless of me!" he replied, smiling knowingly. "No one has yet told you the fabulous future that awaits you, my dear. And why wait for it, years and years of boredom, going to..." and here he let out a long, mocking, drawl, "schooool! Your Serene Highness needn't concern herself with tedious mathematics and literature, no, no, no. Not when there are so many more pleasurable activities available...and I would be your teacher, my pearl."

Wide sky blue eyes stared at him."You called me...WHAT did you call me?"

The tall slim man casually uncrossed his ankles and silently, on booted feet, crossed the room to where she stood. As he came close to her, she saw the glint of black diamond-shaped earrings in the moonlight. A memory teased at the corner of her mind...hadn't Rubeus worn earrings like that?

Now the sense of alarm was definite, but now he was close, so close. He laid long tapering fingers on her arms, pulling her still closer to him...and his fingers were like ice, ice and fire. The glittering eyes looked deep into hers, and slowly, she began to feel weariness overtake her.

"Sleepy, so sleepy..." she murmured.

"That's right," she heard his voice, crooning, soothing, as if from somewhere far, far away. "There's nothing to be frightened of, my pearl. And so many pleasures for us to explore, so much together. Let me touch you, my Serenity, let me show you..." His voice gradually lowered to a whisper as she felt his breath on her lips, his own lips inches away.

She felt herself sink deeper, deeper, into a well of inky blackness. A little voice told her she ought to resist, that she shouldn't be doing this. She was having trouble standing, she was so dizzy. Abruptly, she stumbled backward, and awkwardly, knocked over the vase that stood on her dresser. The slim man reached to stop her fall, but she toppled backwards so quickly that he lost his grip on her.

The roses fell into her hand and trying to brace her fall, her hand closed on one perfect bloom. The petals crushed in her hand, and the cold water splashed on her arm.

"What the...?" she sputtered, and stared at her wet arm, which was, for the moment, free. She stared at the crushed red petals, and in her mind, saw a steel tipped rose impale itself in the wall, and saw a face, a face she knew so well, earnest and sad.

"Mamo-chan!" she wailed. "Mamo-chan! Nobody must ever kiss me, but Mamo-chan!"

The tall man closed his hands into fists. "Stupid, foolish girl! You don't know what you're giving up! You could rule the universe with me. But if you won't come willingly, there are other ways." His smile was dangerous now, and he lunged for her.

Usagi screamed, a long thin high scream, as she saw those hands reaching for her again. The hands touched her neck, and began shaking her, shaking her violently. She screamed again.

Then a familiar voice spoke, "Usagi-chan! Wake up, wake up, you're having a dream."

@))~~~))~~~~

Usagi blinked wide eyed at a rather angry and very wet Luna. "Usagi-chan, next time you decide to walk in your sleep, do you mind not knocking over a vase of cold water on me?"

Usagi's bedraggled black cat frowned at her. "What will your mother say about this mess?"

And indeed, the bedroom looked like a tornado had hit it. Water was splashed all over Luna, was still dripping off the dresser and onto the floor. There were rose petals scattered everywhere, all over the bed sheets, all over Usagi's pyjamas and squishing wetly under her bare feet. The naked thorny green stems were hanging precariously off the edge of the dresser, still in the tilted-over vase, which had somehow not broken in its tumble. Usagi realized her fist was still closed on something, and saw the red rose petals in it, somewhat crushed, but when she held the petals to her nose, the scent was still there.

A folded note, tucked in amongst the roses, which had lain unnoticed until then, released by the tumbling vase, was now on the floor, but a small pool of water was threatening it. Usagi quickly scooped it out of the way, before the water could smear the ink, and opened the note. Luna tried to look over her shoulder to read the note, but Usagi turned her back to Luna, and read the note:

"I don't know what I said or did to hurt you, Usako. But whatever it is, I'm sorry.--Mamoru."

Usagi folded the note again, and stuffed it in her transformation brooch, before Luna could get a peek, much to the feline mentor's frustration.

Slowly, Usagi smiled, much to Luna's bewilderment. She picked up the vase and righted it on the dresser, took a small empty jar with a stopper from the top of the dresser, and placed the petals in her hand in the jar. "Tell you what, Luna. I know how you love sticking your little pink nose into my perfumes and colognes. I'll pick up all these rose petals, put them in this jar, and make potpourri. That way, we can still have the scent of roses, long after these cut roses would have died anyway. Cause real love lasts, like the scent of roses, they say. I'm sure Mamo-chan would be pleased if I did that with his gift to me."

Usagi then began mopping up the spilled water and scooping up the rose petals to put them in the potpourri jar, then she disposed of the rose stems in the composter, where they would in time, fertilize more roses. Lastly, she took her wet bed linens to the washing machine to be laundered, all the while singing softly to herself. Luna stared up at her mistress for a long moment. "Well!" she said finally. "It's so refreshing to see you cleaning up your room CHEERFULLY for a change! So...just what IS potpourri?"

Usagi leaned down and smiled mysteriously. "You'll find out!" she replied. And with that, she stoppered the potpourri jar and put it behind her other cologne bottles on her dresser. Luna looked up at the jar with a faraway and almost wistful expression on her face. Usagi watched her small friend covertly. Could her small and stern feline friend secretly be a romantic? Nahhh...that's impossible, Usagi thought, shaking her head in firm denial.

Still humming to herself, Usagi began brushing her long blonde locks before the mirror and binding them into her trademark odango.

@))~~~))~~~~

It's August 3, 2001-Mamoru's birthday. For four years running, since 1997, I've posted a fanfic to the Net as my birthday present to My Only 2D Lust ;-) . Our Mamo-chan is nothing if not a traditionalist at heart, so I know he'd want me to keep up this well-loved tradition. /(^_~)\

@))~~~))~~~~ ~~~((~~~~((@


End file.
